Orla Mining’s Results Confirm Higher Grade Gold Zones
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Orla Mining’s Results Confirm Higher Grade Gold Zones

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Lorenzo Núñez By Lorenzo Núñez | Livestream Producer - Wed, 08/04/2021 - 10:28

Orla Mining has released their results from the oriented in-fill core drilling program on its Camino Rojo sulphide deposit located in Zacatecas, Mexico. The drill results confirm the presence of wide, higher-grade gold zones within the sulphide mineral resource, and the company intends to further explore the potential for open pit or underground bulk mining methods. An updated resource estimate for the sulphide portion of the deposit will be undertaken which will form the basis of a Preliminary Economic Assessment.

The program consisted of close-spaced drilling on three sections of the sulphide zone focusing on the extension of the Camino Rojo deposit down plunge of the planned open pit. The objective was to test the continuity of higher-grade mineralization within the 7.3 million ounces of gold in the sulphide measured and indicated mineral resource estimate (259 million tonnes at 0.88 g/t Au) lying directly below the open pit currently being developed on the oxide mineral reserves. The fourteen holes completed across the sulphide zone yielded 27 significant mineralized drill intercepts with a grade-by-thickness factor greater than 50 g/t by metre Au (g/t*m Au), as reported by the company’s press release              .

At the time Orla acquired the Camino Rojo project, the company’s technical team believed, based on its geological evaluation of the existing data, that additional drilling had the potential to outline and better define continuous zones with grades appreciably higher than the average sulphide mineralized measured and indicated mineral resource grade of 0.88 g/t gold. Orla’s 2020-2021 program of southerly directed drill holes was specifically designed to be a step in that process.

Jason Simpson, President and Chief Executive Officer of Orla Mining, said  “We are encouraged with the results from the Camino Rojo Sulphides drill program. While the geological setting is already well understood, this new information will be meaningful as we refine the geological model and move to focus on possible development approaches. We are pleased that this drilling has reinforced the structural controls predicted by our geologists, and we will likely require more drilling across the orebody, ideally at this more optimal drill orientation.” 

At the moment, 50 percent of the construction is complete and is expected to be finished by early 2022. Meanwhile, the process plant and main facilities will be ready in 4Q21. If everything goes according to plan, Camino Rojo will produce its first doré bar in December, while a more constant production will be achieved until the first months of 2022, as reported by MBN. The project is expected to have an annual production of 94,000oz for 10.5 years. The company recently extended the mine life by four years and increased its reserves by 54 percent due to its Layback Agreement with Fresnillo. The agreement allows Orla to expand its Camino Rojo oxide pit within the Fresnillo mineral concession to better target its minerals.

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